2013 Volcom Pipe Pro – Notes from the Farm…

Monday, January 30th was a lei day for the VPP which was perfect timing for the green efforts. Sunday’s waste diversion efforts were in dire need of some attention before the North Shore mongoose population had a holiday feast on the compost that we collected for the farm. TR3EES had an amazing time on the land with farmer Anthony Palazzolo and his team of WWOOFers (World Wide Opportunities for Organic Farmers). When we arrived there was a fresh, hot pile of coconut mulch, which happens to be some of the best material to compost with. It is naturally anti-pathogenic and breaks down really fast with the right amount of moisture and self generated heat.

After making a 10 x 6 foot bed, we emptied out food waste, watered it down, covered it up with more green waste and coconut mulch, and let it cook! In keeping with our high standards for green practices, we even washed and scrubbed our buckets with Dr. Bronner’s Castile Soap (made from all organic plant oils) using a coconut husk as a scrubbie! That’s seriously GREEN!

Once composted, all of the materials will be up-cycled into the soil providing rich nutritious elements that plants need to grow in good health.

Tuesday, January 31st, we woke up to bombing surf! It was so heavy that my windows were rumbling all night and we knew it was going to be an epic day! We hit the ground running with some oatmeal and coffee served in Styrophobia sponsored compostable products made from plants, and got busy adding a second Zero Waste station inside the Volcom House. Tai Van Dyke was really happy to help set it up to maximize Volcom’s efforts in Hawaii.

At the end of one of the most exciting days in Pipe Contest history, we drove off with 220 gallons of plastic/aluminum/glass recycling, one half of a yard of cardboard, 100 gallons of compostable food service containers, and almost NO FOOD WASTE. We had less than 1 gallon of food waste thanks to the amazing cooking of Thomas Naylor and his catering team. Taro pancakes, the best local eggs you have ever tasted in your life, fish, spinach massed potatoes, and Cesar salads with chicken! YUM! It was great to have nothing wasted!

Of course, Sambazon came through again and we dished out 150 acai bowls as the afternoon healthy energy lifter to the ASP and Volcom Crews and judges! Although, with the energy coming from the ocean today, I am pretty sure the details were blurred out by the best show on Earth! Macking PIPE! Click here if you didn’t get to see it.

We are looking forward to a bitter sweet final day where the 2012 VPP champ will emerge, and we will have to wait another year for the best surfing competition in Hawaii to return yet again…

ALOHA FANS! We really hope you caught the final heat of the 2012 VPP, and hope even more that your heart survived the excitement! Mine was leaping out of my chest as we watched that final set reach the line-up in the last 30 seconds… with John John going deeper in a paddle battle with J.O.B. to catch a backdoor bomb. Who thought he would even make the drop, much less pull off the best show of the entire contest? Maybe even the best show in Pipe Contest HISTORY!

And then, we took out the trash! With post-adrenaline heart palpitations, weak knees and perma-grim smiles, we dug in! Dealing with the nasty bags of recycling, nastier bags of food containers, and even nastier buckets of food scraps has never been so much fun!

With the finals, there are always more people buzzing about which inevitably means more waste. Our final day tally was 300 gallons of recycling, 18 gallons of food waste and another 120 gallons of compostables. With a celebratory beer in one hand, waste to be diverted in the other, the overwhelming excitement combined with complete exhaustion left us with 3 truck loads or stuff to carry away… none of which will ever reach the landfill.

I must admit that we could have done better, as I think we all can on any given day… BUT… that being said, we definitely did the best we could do in the moment. Next year, we will be ready to communicate better, collect cleaner, divert more, reduce more, educate more, and waste LESS! AND you can too!

Make an effort in your DAY-TO-DAY! Get off SUPWB’s, say NO to Plastic Bags, grow some food, compost your waste, and carry your own chop sticks or utensils. Try to encourage your favorite eat get good “grinds” to give up Styrofoam! Tell them you will pay more for healthy products! Bend over once in a while, and pick something up off the ground… so it does NOT wind up in the ocean. And as the popular North Shore bumper sticker says…”SAVE SOMETHING!”

With my warmest ALOHA and thanks to VOLCOM, I leave you with two things….

1) Learn more about how to Live Like Sion and how to Live with Aloha: The legacy of Sion means to honor yourself, always be true, and do what you say you are going to do! Don’t talk about it, DO IT

2) John Muir, in all of his wisdom, said this: “When one tugs at a single thing in nature he finds it attached to the rest of the world.”

Honor yourself every day, be true to others and look around you. Take notice and get connected!